Machine for making tiles



May 1, 1923. 1,453,381

' D. D ALE'SSANDRO ET AL MACHINE FOR MAKING TILES Filed March 1, 1921 n .8- a 60 i 6 0,

35 fiventor's .Haffae Pace 1 00777277 6071 Z d Cassandra Patente May 1, 1923.

6F HCE.

nommrcx DALESSAN'DRO AND RAFFAELE PAGE, OF QUINCY, MAssAofiUsE'rTs; SAID PACE ASSIGNOR T SAID DALESSANDRO.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TILES.

Application filed March 1, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DOMINIOK DAmcs- SANDRO and RAFFAELE Pace, respectively a citizen of the United States and a subject of the King of Italy, and residents of Quincy. in the county of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Making Tiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for manufacturing cement or concrete articles, like tiles, and it has for its object to improve upon present-day machines of the above-designated character, to the end that a superior article may be produced more economically and efiicientl With this end in View, t e invention consists of the improved machine a preferred embodiment of which is hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of a preferred machine constructed according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the removal of a tile from the mold; Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a plan and an elevation of an improved mold oiler; Fig. 6 is a. view of the tile, shown resting upon another tile after its removal from the mold; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the removable walls of a preferred mold; Fig. 8 is a similar view of the bottom wall of the mold: Fig. 9 is a view of a preferred color pattern; and Fig. 10 is a section taken upon the line 10-10 of Fig. 9, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The preferred mold of the present invention comprises a plate 2, the upper face 4. of which constitutes the bottom wall of the mold, and two members 6 and 8. the inner faces 10 and 12 of which constitute the side walls of the mold. The member 6 is provided with extensions 14 and 16 and the member 8 with similar extensions 18 and 20; that respectively abut against the extensions 14 and 16 of the member 6. A bolt 22 loosely secures the extensions 14 and 18 together to permit a slight pivotal movement of the members 6 and 8 towards and from each other. The extension 20 is perforated, and

through the perforation 24 extends a lug 26 Serial No. 448,900.

mounted upon the extension 16. The lug 26 is preferably abolt, as shown. A cam lever 28 1s pivoted to the free end 30 of the lug 26 and is adapted to engage the perforated extension 20 to force the members 6 and 8 towards each other and secure them firmly in such position.

The side edges 32 of the plate 2 are rovided with lugs 34 upon which the mem are 6 and 8 are adapted to rest. As will be clear more particularly from Fig. 2, the lugs 34 are positioned below the bottom wall 4 of the mold, so that the side ,walls 10 and 12 may firmly and tightly engage the side edges 32 when the members 6 and 8 are forced towards each other by the cam lever 28. A pivotal movement of the cam lever 28 in the opposite direction will permit slight pivotal separation of the side walls 10 and 12 about the bolt 22 away from the side edges 32, permitting the removal of the members 6 and 8 from the lugs 34. The members 6 and 8, and the side walls 10 and 12 of the mold formed thereon, are thus easily removable as a unit from the bottom wall of the mold, and are as readily returnable thereto.

The term tile will be employed throughout the specification and the claims to designate tiles and similar cement articles, whether or not used as tiles. To manufacture tiles according to the method of the present invention, the side walls of the mold are first assembled, as above described, upon the bottom wall. A very thin surface layer 36 of liquid cement is then poured upon the bottom wall. Care should be taken to spread this surface layer uniformly on the bottom wall 4, as by oscillating the mold back and forth several times until the layer has spread evenly. This layer is preferably composed of suitable proportions of very fine sand and very fine cement with a plentiful proportion of water or other liquid added thereto to render it very liquid; The term cement will, for brevity, be employed throughout the specification and the claims to denote cement or sand or any suitable mixture of them or their equivalents, and the term liquid cement will be similarly employed to denote the same with a liberal proportion of water or other liquid added thereto. This layer ma be colored, if desired, by the addition of some suitable coloring material.

A thin layer of fine, very dry, granular cement, conslstlng, preferably, of a '12 we of two parts fine cement and one part fine sand, is then introduced over the liquid cement. This layer is indicated in Fig. 2 by the numeral 38. The dry layer 38 absorbs the liquid of the liquid layer 36, but the ingredients thereof are so fine as not to protrude noticeably through the liquid layer to the surface. The surface of the completed tile would he marred by such protrusion if the layer 38 were composed of coarse materials, mrticularly if the surface layer 36 is colored.

A layer of coarse. moist cement, constituted preferably of two parts coarse sand and one part coarse cement, is then introduced over the layer 38 of the fine dry cement. The layer 40 is thick. according to the dimensions of the desired tile. A cover plate 42, having an upper mold wall 44, is placed in position upon the coarse layer 40, and is driven home under great pressure.

A preferred mold press is.illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 1. The mold is shown resting upon the base 46 of the press. A vertically movable screw-threaded plunger 48 is provided with operating arms 50 the free ends of which carry weighted balls 52. The operator seizes one of the weighted arms and exerts a strong momentary force to cause it to rotate rapidly by its inertia and thereby effect a downward movement of the screw-threaded plunger. The momentary force is very great, causing the plunger, after subjecting the cement in the mold to great pressure, to retreat from the mold by its own inertia. Satisfactory and rapid operation is thereby assured.

Upon the retreat of the plunger, the cam lever 28 is manipulated to permit removal of the members 6 and 8, after which the cover plate 42 is removed by means of the handles 54.- The pressed tile, though well formed, is still somewhat weak, so requires support during its removal from the bottom wall 4. This support is preferably obtained by placing over it a previously completed tile 56. A plate 58 is positioned along the edge of the tile, and grasped in one hand, as shown in Fig. 3, ahandle 60 that is integral with one of the lugs 34 is grasped in the other, and a sidewise thrust in the direction of the arrow is exerted by the one hand towards the other hand to thrust the tile sidewise off the bottom wall 4 of the mold. The plate 2 may, if desired, be tilted at such time, as illustrated inFig. 3. The tile is then allowed to rest for a period, preferably upon the tile 56. as sh'bwn in Fig. 6, after which it is immersed in water and allowed to harden or set properly.

The use of the liquid surface layer 36 is particularly desirable in the preparation of tiles having smooth or colored surfaces. The liquid layer, however, has a tendency to stick to the bottom Wall 4 of the mold,

causing breaking up of the surface of the tile when it is attempted to remove the tile from the mold. The bottom wall 4 must, therefore, be suitably lubricated or oiled be fore the liquid layer is poured thereon. Lubricants, however, are liable to cause grease spots upon the surface of the tile, and the-y have a tendency to contract, causing the surface of the hardened tile to crack. According to the present invention, these difiiculties are eliminated by the use of a lubricant containing a grease-absorbing element, such as turpentine or kerosene, and an element for preventing the formation of cracks in the surface of the completed tile, as olive oil. This lubricant may be applied by means of an oiler shown in Figs. 4 and 5. A woolen cloth or its equivalent is wound into a roll 62 and the roll is forced into an ordinary tin can or other container 64, after which it is impregnated with the above-described lubricant. The operator holds the tin 64 while rubbing the oiled cloth over the bottom wall 4, thus applying a uniform, thin layer of lubricant without soiling the hands.

In the manufacture of tiles the surfaces of which are variously colored, it is essential that the lines of separation between the colors be sharp and that the designs be properly centered. The design may, for example, be like that of the pattern shown in Fig. 9, or it may be very much simpler, as a sin gle dividing line. The pattern is placed upon the bottom wall 4 and a surface layer of differently colored liquid cements poured upon the bottom wall between the walls of the pattern. The color between the walls 64 may, for example. be red; that between the walls 66 green; that along the sides, between and under the walls 68, white; and that along the corners, between the walls 70, of still another color. After the surface layer has been uniformly spread over the bottom wall, as above described, the pattern is removed to permit thedifferently colored liquid cements to flow towards each other and form sharp, dividing lines of demarcation. The rest of the process is as above described.

It is essential that the pattern be removed before the fine layer 38 is applied, for if the latter is introduced while the pattern is still in position. the dry cement. after absorbing liquid from the liquid layer, will stick to the walls of the pattern. so that upon removal of the pattern. the differently colored layers will flow into one another, forming a jagged line of demarcation.

To correctly centre the design, the pattern is provided with exterior Walls 72 of dimensions equal to the dimensions of the mold so that the walls 72 may contact With the side walls 10 and 12 of the mold, maintaining the pattern properly positioned within the mold. Bars 7 4 rigidly connect the walls of the pattern to the exterior walls 72, but are spaced from the bottom wall 4, as will be clear from Fig. 10, so as not to interfere with the flow of the liquid colored cement layer under the bars 74. The pattern may be conveniently made from galvanized iron or other sheet material, the sheets being soldered together.

It will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that the details of the invention may be varied from what is shown and described herein, and such variations are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a mold havin bottom and side walls, of a pattern ada te to rest upon the bottom wall of the mo d, a portion of the pattern being adapted to contact with a side wall to maintain the pattern properly positioned within the mold, and the pattern having a bar spaced from the bottom wall of the mold connecting the pattern to said portion.

2. The combination with a mold having bottom and side walls, of a pattern adapted to rest upon the bottom wall of the mold provided with walls adapted to contact with the side walls to maintain the pattern properly positioned within the mold and with bars spaced from the bottom wall of the mold rigidly connecting the said walls of the pattern to the pattern. a

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 28th dayof February, 1921.

DOMINIGK DALESSANDRD; RAFFAELE PAGE. 

